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Thread: 06 5.3L LH6 Trailblazerwith E40 Controller Questions

  1. #1
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    06 5.3L LH6 Trailblazerwith E40 Controller Questions

    Hey Guys,

    New to the forum, first post, excited to grow and learn in the community.

    I hail from Cincinnati, Ohio to anyone that may be local.

    As the Title states, I have a short wheel base 4x4 LT 5.3L LH6 Trailblazer LT with the E40/T42 controllers.

    I have a 4" DIY intake and airbox, ls1 e-fan conversion, 160 thermostat, and I would like to run 93 octane. I removed the A/c belt, lowered the vehicle and removed the front axle shafts only keeping the splines in the hubs and front diff in hopes of reducing what mechanical drag on the engine that I could. (4wd switch is unplugged in the dash with plans to put my a/f meter in it's place and fully swap to 2wd down the road).

    Currently in MY inexperienced opinion it seems to be running lean and I've noticed my LTFT and Spark advance tables seem high. I get a check engine light usually within the first mile or two of a cold start for a knock sensor every once in a while.

    What would you guys recommend I do/start looking into if I were just trying get the above dialed in and running perfectly? Seems like a lot of guides don't match up exactly and i get to a point where reading or watching keeps me from doing something I'm not sure of.

    I can navigate the VCM suite, and understand the concepts. Googling things shows posts in other forums about it being an odd ball compared to other controllers which makes me hesitant to really read into general gen 4 stuff. As I said I love learning how to do things myself, I just finally decided it can't hurt to ask for some advice.

    I saw the Gen-4 how to sticky should I start with the maf since i don't have a wideband or am i fine to tune my ve tables. Once i break the ice I should be good. Just hesitant to go in blind.

    I'll attach the Stock tune I've only done the DOD and E-fans with along with some datalogs on 93 and 87 if anyone has time to help me out or point me in the right direction.
    EDIT: Just realized the VCM scanner .cfg might matter, I'm still using the default.

    9.30.19 87octane cruise & WOT (BT1.2).hpl
    9.30.19 93octane cruise & WOT (BT1.2).hpl
    06 TB - BASE TUNE 1.2.hpt

    I appreciate any and all criticism or feedback!
    Last edited by KylePlacke; 10-01-2019 at 02:49 AM. Reason: formatting

  2. #2
    Tuning Addict blindsquirrel's Avatar
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    Very first thing, I would get it flashed with the latest stock GM calibration, then apply the 2bar patch again, then copy over changes made for your fans/etc. Your base OS is 12606964, the most recent one before GM stopped issuing updates is 12612557. Updating adds a few tables/tweaks that may or may not be useful to you later, but it sure won't hurt to do it anyway.

    Power Enrichment settings are still bone-ass stock, changing that will wake it up a lot.

    Your LTFT thing is probably because nothing at all has been changed to compensate for the 4" intake. VE & MAF tables are untouched. The engine is able to eat more air than the stock tune is expecting, and it's having to add fuel through the trims to bring it back in line.

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    Hey, I appreciate the reply! I quickly realized where my issues in seeing how things effected one another fell after realizing That I was looking at stuff people were doing on the version 3.x of vcm suite. Realizing that, and correctly setting up correct graphs I needed I figured out where to start on my own confidently enough that I went ahead and ordered an aem x series wideband, (Still unsure if i need a pro licence for this, but seemed to be the least likely in needing one).

    I started by disabling the Maf and the things associated with that, and forcing closed loop to start tuning my VE table using my LTFT. Biggest issue there was seeing values that didn't correlate with anything I needed because I Overlooked the values across the axis that the 2 bar OS changed a few more times than I'd like to admit. The values that were displaying made perfect sense for how "raw" everything felt. My idle, and throttling through traffic and moving from a dead stop feel "crisp" and well, I have the bug now. I did something noticable without blowing anything up.

    I do however have a question regarding the updated OS you mentioned. After a few quick searches, I found this website: https://tis2web.service.gm.com/tis2w...1&bm=_top#_top

    It seems I could contact the dealer to have them do it, or possibly get the file and write myself, but wanted to see if there were something for the hear and now as i'm sitting here now with an hour drive ahead of me and wanna use as much time datalogging as I can.
    I'm assuming I could Find something stock in the repository, write full, and redo the DOD and Fans, and start over with using LTFT to narrowband tune my VE for the time being? I also just realized that I actually captured all the correct data in my efforts to grab a lot of data and log it and get some sort of organization down to how I log.

    I think I can finally say i took my first baby steps in getting something going,

  4. #4
    Tuning Addict blindsquirrel's Avatar
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    You shouldn't need to force closed loop, just let it warm up to normal temp. Unless you've monkeyed around with the CL enable/disable settings, which you shouldn't have.

    I would only flash a new stock calibration using the GM flash tools (Tech2, MDI, whatever). Any dealer can do it, and it should still drive home afterwards with the minimal changes you have made so far. Lots of individuals and independent shops these days can do it with dealer-type tools as well. To do it yourself, you'd need to buy a scan tool compatible with the GM servers that the tunes are pulled down from. For a one-time thing I'd just find someone to flash it for you.

    If you chose the AEM 30-0334, that one just plugs into the OBD port, no connection into the MPVI needed, VCM Scanner reads it as a separate ECM on the bus and you can then add the data from it to channels/graphs like anything else.

    When I open your 93-octane log file it puts your data into the graphs I already have set up, the neat-o predefined LTFT+STFT Math graph looks like this:
    screenshot.01-10-2019 21.10.12.png

    Quick overview of how to set this up: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rhg5NSh8Dq8

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    I got the idea from stumbling on this video : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kaRL3vSA-JI&t=176s

    Kinda set me straight on the little things I was missing out on.

    I called the local Dealership and they want $115 to update the software, however from the looks of the spec sheet it just looks to be DOD related updates. I 'm going to see if I can find a file running that OS and compare it to mine first. Everything I've read says I can change the Vin on a file with that OS on it and write entire if I think it's worth while doing.

    Figured I'd ask how uncommon it is for my LH6 to have came with 243 heads on it compared to the 799 heads. Buddy of mine pointed it out to me and seemed bewildered to see that after realizing I didn't have the 4.2L.

    Saw some of your posts in other threads and I only really saw the firewall, but looks like we both have blue trucks

    Capture10.2.19.jpg
    Last edited by KylePlacke; 10-02-2019 at 12:15 PM.

  6. #6
    Tuning Addict blindsquirrel's Avatar
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    Nah, mine's black, Envoy Denali LWB 2wd.

    Doing a write-entire with a repository file using HPT won't write all sections of the ECM. That may not matter when doing files of the same platform as the unwriteable parts will still be compatible, you may never have any weird undiagnoseable issues pop up later, but... I know for a fact that the GM flash tools will write everything 100% as it should be and you will be starting with a 100% valid calibration. I don't like unknowns especially when they can be avoided.

    There are different tables in HPT for different operating systems, stuff that doesn't show up in GM's description. That's stuff that a dealership tech would never be able to see and hence doesn't affect them.

    Doing it either way will cost you credits again, as the ECM+CalID combo will change after flashing and require relicensing.

    My stock file, just after flashing the new OS with the MDI/TIS2000: 2006 Envoy LH6 1GKES66M566140682 - 12612557.hpt

  7. #7
    Tuning Addict blindsquirrel's Avatar
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    I think it will cost you 4 credits total if you do it yourself with a repository file, though the whole credits thing changed with the MPVI2. If it is 4 credits, then it's nearly the same money in the end if you have the dealer do it, as that way would be only 2 credits + their $115.

    799/243 castings are identical. I'm pretty sure that 243s used on trucks got the standard truck valves, not the hollow stem fancy ones used in car 243 apps.

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    Thanks for providing that, I'll do some comparing between my stock file and that one although I'm pretty sure I have it already from the repository at home on my desktop lol.

    If I can figure out a way around paying the dealership and having it flashed with a techII the credits aren't a big deal. I'm glad you said something about needing credits afterwards because I would have been pretty irritated at myself. I guess I'll add that to my list of checks before I go to license another vehicle down the road.

    If i had already flashed that OS, would I have been able to read and save the new OS stock file, license it later, and do a write entire back to my stock file? Seems Like that's what I would have tried doing had that been the case.

    Thanks again, you've been a big help. I appreciate it!
    Last edited by KylePlacke; 10-02-2019 at 01:02 PM.

  9. #9
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    I'm pretty sure it would cost you 2 credits before it'd let you write a not-previously-licensed file to anything, then another 2 credits for the new ECM+CalID combo after it's written.

    If you can find somebody with a Tech2 & TIS access willing to do it for a 6 pack of beer or whatever, that'd work. I mean, I'm a nobody in the middle of nowhere and I have a cheap MDI clone thing and can do dealer-level flashes on everything up to, I think it's 2009 where the old TIS2000 cuts off. Even past there, for newer stuff I can use the web-based TDS subscription if I ever need it. I don't get to mess with much of anything but my own stuff these days though, just screwin' around in the backyard.